If we do go up then anything more than avoiding relegation would be a bonus.

I'm looking forward to next season if we do go up.Hopefully we can get our backsides into gear and have a good season and not tail off like we did on Sunday.

I cant buy into that mate. Even after all we have been through I still th9ink with the team we have atm we'd be a mid table Championship

Maybe a bit pessimistic Bullseye - but I don't expect us to be anywhere near the top end. I suspect we would be in the mix along with Sheffield, Swinton, Dewsbury etc. Unless we suddenly sign a whole lot of quality, I haven't seen anything this season to think that we'd be anything much above the 8th-12th position.

Of course, getting promoted would be a good first step

Yeah let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've got to get there first. If we do go up we need a few more seasoned campaigners so we don't get bullied again up front.

This thing about 'seasoned campaigners'.... I recall that when John Kear was appointed a lot of people suggested he'd make just those kind of signings. Again, when we went for the 'hybrid' part-time/full-time squad it was suggested that it would enable us to sign some experienced tough, hard nut forwards who wouldn't necessary want to be full time

But we didn't. We signed people like Mikey Wood and Callum Bustin - young lads making their way in the game, who have done well without really being able to dominate in those tough games. IMO we've been light up front all season. I wonder why John Kear didn't identify this and deal with it right at the start of the season?

Which seasoned campaigners can we realistically target? Who springs to mind?

AIS, First choice pack imo certainly have plenty of games behind them.

Green 120+
Flanagan 170+
Crossley 180+
Garside 200+
Laithwaite 100+
Minichella 100+

Let's be perfectly honest here. The days where we could draw up a list of 'targets' and actually make moves to sign them are long gone.
We sign players from the ever dwindling pool of those available. Do you think someone at the Bulls sat down and said 'hey, let's go after that George Milton, he's decent'. I don't think so.
We signed him because his agent put a call in, we needed players and his wage demands were in our budget.

The same thing will happen next year, and the year after, and the year after that until we finally get back into the upper echelons of the sport or die trying.

The only way we will ever truly have some genuine quality in our squad is if we take a gamble on someone most could deem a risk (Chisholm/long term injury etc.) or if we develop our own. If it's the latter option we'll probably get a couple of seasons out of them before they move on (Bentley).

Our season ticket sales give us an edge over the whole of League 1 and some of the Champ sides, which is why we can match or improve upon the salaries of players like Magrin and Wildie.

Fair point, although only two of those are prop forwards, which is what I tend to have in mind when I think of the kind of forwards who can 'bully' the opposition.

I don't know who there is available. All I know is that most of the Championship teams we played last season (and teams like York and Workington from this season) seem to have quite a few of that type of no-nonsense prop with a bit of 'mongrel', as the saying goes.

And for the most part they bullied our pack (Jon Magrin included!). I couldn't really see Steve Crossley or James Green bullying anyone, much as I rate both of them as good, honest 'go forward' prop forwards.

Alex Rowe signed for Newcastle. He'd would have been a great signing.

Laithwaite hasn't re-signed yet.

You have a valid point, I don't think we will have targeted players such as George Milton, and as you state, that is clearly a process that occurs.

Don't agree that we don't target players that we want. There's somebody at the club that keeps tabs on players outside the club, and that includes contracts and availability.

From the lists of available and potentially available I'd be hard pressed to believe that we don't target players that we feel could improve the squad.

I just doesn't make sense to not be proactive about developing the squad.

Laithwaite, I stand corrected. I hope he signs. Good player approaching his prime.